We have zuke blooms! Finally. Nothing on the yellow squash plants. And several very tiny cukes. Not planting anything today - just admiring things.

Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!

June 26, 201310:31 pm

Linda Goble

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Weeds unfortunately!!!! Since foot surgery in March my poor flower gardens is in such a mess. Guess I will find them next year. For the vegetable garden not doing that great. Hubby did the planting this year and it is not doing that great. Peppers and cukes are not looking that good.. Hubby planted every thing up in a raised bed and I think that was the problem. I only raised planted some of my garden in a raised bed.. Well hopefully next year I will be back in the swing of things..

June 26, 201311:05 pm

brookdale

Eastern Maine

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I checked today and I have teeny little tomatoes on my Sungold cherry tomatoes! Wow! This is really early for tomatoes here. But it has been hotter than usual.

The deer were around the other night and nibbled the tops off all my phlox - white, pink and multicolored. But that's all they touched as far as I can see, so far. The hostas will probably be next. Grrrr

Remember, if it rains on your picnic it's also raining on your garden!

June 27, 201311:51 am

Joelle

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I also have little tomatoes, we have some huge pots that I am using for veggies this year, two of them are filled with spinach that is also doing very well, and the other two contain cherry tomatoes and pear tomatoes, both have fruit on the vine. Our garden is going crazy, tomatoes are shooting up and filed with so many blossoms, the yellow squash is blooming and starting to run, peppers are forming, we should have leaf lettuce very soon--- if this weather continues and is kind to us, it will be a banner year, the trees in the orchard are doing well, the dear and raccoons are having their share, but we dont mind as long as they dont come up to the garden in our yard.

The grass is growing like mad, I hope we get at least a half day that is dry enough to mow, this has been like living in the tropics

"Be kinder than necessary, everyone is fighting some sort of battle."

June 28, 20139:22 pm

Joelle

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We harvested our first leaf lettuce of the season this morning, I have never seen the garden growing the way it has this year, it has been so hot and humid and showers off for the last week or so, I noticed this morning that we have little summer squash about 3 inches long. I can hardly wait to have some nice fried squash.

"Be kinder than necessary, everyone is fighting some sort of battle."

June 29, 201312:46 pm

mamajoseph

Kenya

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I started some sungold tomatoes, too. Plants are still quite small, tho, but I'm excited b/c it's a new variety for me. We're enjoying some of the best butterhead lettuce ever and the romaine is coming along nicely. That will be a first, too, so I hope it continues to thrive. Meanwhile, beets and snowpeas are coming up, arugula is going crazy and if the birds don't quit eating my bean seedlings, I am going to get ugly on them.

I (sorta) have a farm in Africa.

July 8, 20131:01 pm

Salamander

Charleston, WV

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My youngest daughter is 7 and has been wanting to plant seeds from any foods we have eaten lately. About a month ago we planted some lemon seeds and now have several lemon trees that are about 3 inches tall. I need to do some research on seperating them. I know that they cannot stay out in the cold over winter so I am going to have to figure out where to put them if they survive the the transplant.

We also have some pink lady apple trees growing they were planted sooner than the lemons but are only about 2 inches tall but they are thicker and already have several leaves on them.

The person who upsets you the most is your best teacher, because they bring you face to face with who you are.

July 8, 20131:40 pm

BuckeyeGirl

N.E. Ohio

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That is very fun Salamander, and though the apple seedlings won't actually survive very well to really grow apples, it's still great that she wants to do this! (apple trees need to be grafted to different root stock and any grown from seed polinated by bees in an orchard will be some odd combinations.) It would be years before that question need be raised though and at 7 just having them sprout is magic enough!

Lemon trees grown in pots are usually very nice in the house overwinter, and believe it or not can get sunburned in the summer sun when they're young, so a little shade during the heat of the day is good for them.

Sweet Potatoes are a LOT of fun for kids because they grow so crazy fast too!

Avocados started from the pits are great because they are so large it's easy to see the whole process!

The bottoms of Celery bunches are fun too (placed in a shallow dish of water till roots start) and can be raised in pots and eaten or at least used for seasoning, so that's a bonus!

Parsley seed is fun because it grows dramatically in one season and can be used fresh and she can dry some herself for use in the winter, and get that little thrill of pride that she 'helped' in making a meal.

Located in N.E. Ohio

July 8, 20132:12 pm

Salamander

Charleston, WV

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I figured the apple trees wouldn't do much but they are pretty in the little pots. We have been doing the celery stocks for quite some time now. I think she got bored with that and wanted to move onto seeds. I have done the sweet potatoe with my oldes daughter but have not done it with my youngest so will need to do that soon. I am very interested in doing the avacado pits. We are going to do watermelon seeds this week, a little late in the season but it will still be fun. We bought some peaches yesterday so that will be the next adventure.

The person who upsets you the most is your best teacher, because they bring you face to face with who you are.

July 8, 20138:08 pm

Squeegees Mom

South Texas

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If you plant some orange seeds and give it plenty of time, (up to 4 weeks or so) you can grow a bitter orange tree with very sharp thorns on it. The oranges are almost always grafted onto the hardy bitter orange tree.The thorns can be easily snipped off for safety after you show your youngster if you feel it is necessary. I have been growing the bitter orange tree indoors for about 2 years now. What a fun way to encourage her green thumb!

July 8, 201310:21 pm

bonita

north east IL

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Salamander:

Some stores may still have some seed packets left from this spring. Parsley seeds generally germinate in 2 to 5 weeks. You can help them along by soaking them in warm water for 24 hours before planting.

The best bang for the impatient buck is the radish. Red globe radishes sprout within 2 to 5 days. Radishes are ready to harvest in about 22 to 70 days!

Onions and garlic can be grown from an existing onion or garlic clove. The green shoots really smell ilke onion/garlic.

Another food activity: Mount a thin cotton string across a sunny window. Take small branches of four or five grapes and balance them on, or tie them to, the horizontal string. Be sure grapes get as much sun as possible. Kids love to watch the grapes turn to raisins.

Best of luck with all your growing projects (!).

Save the Earth. It's the only planet with chocolate.

October 3, 201312:23 am

holstein woman

Yankton, (St. Helens)Oregon

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We moved about 18 months ago and finally got the raised beds started for a garden and decided to grow a fall crop. Lordy, lordy, I'm growing potatoes in 6' round metal silo pieces. I have 7 plants per silo piece and when they were their tallest they were about 4' above the top of the silo. They got blight and it has been raining so hard I couldn't get out to spray them. I peeked under the hay today and the potatoes are nice size and color so I think I will just pull them and burn the plant tops when the weather allows.

We also have some other planters we are using for raised beds and they are filled with cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, radishes ( I found the BEST recipe for roasted radishes), bok choy and lettuce. I can hardly wait for spring so I can start a real garden again. Still don't have the greenhouse up so I can't do anything about tropicals. I so want pineapple, mango, coffee, and lemons. There are so many things to grow in a greenhouse. I also want to grow watermelon and sweet potatoes in the greenhouse in the summer. Here in Clatskanie Oregon it is colder than it is in most other parts because we are North West and on the Columbia River.

Well, talk about getting long winded!

I thought I might have some photos of the transformation, but I don't, I'll have to remedy that.

October 3, 20131:05 pm

Pete

WV

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Gardening around here has been seriously hit and miss this year due to the excessive rains. Tomatoes did not do well at all - except the ones in the pots, which the chicks seemed to find. Jalapeno experiment in the bucket from the last retreat was not good at all either. Squash of several varieties and the cukes were all failures as well.

But, several transplanted flowers did quite well. And basil came up on it's own in many places. So, today am harvesting zinnia, basil, Thai basil, marigold and salvia seeds. The salvia isn't really supposed to grow from seeds, I had tried in prior years by throwing seed pods here and there with no luck, but this year there are little plants in the pots from current seeds.

Looks like it may be time to completely give up on growing veggies here!

Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!

October 3, 20135:09 pm

mamawolf

Colorado Springs

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We spent the morning covering the hoops in the one raised bed we will be using this winter which has herbs, butter lettuce and radishes. Weather forecast is for freezing tonight through Saturday.

Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt and dance like you do when no one is watching.

October 27, 20135:27 pm

dawnraeb

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Wow... everyone has such wonderful things they are planting, admiring, preparing...

Last week, I had moved my container tomatoes indoors due to the colder temps at night. Now i see a tomato that is ripening. Yay. (I was afraid the move would kill my green tomatoes).

November 18, 20131:04 am

dee58m

ohio

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Due to high winds today, I kept clear of the garden. I had planned to check on the late crops I planted a few weeks ago, though fall here, I planted a late crop of carrots, spinach, radishes, sugar snap peas. I hope to pull the last of my onions and leeks out tomorrow morning, so I can plant a long row of garlic.

" life is not about waiting for the storm to pass...it's about dancing in the rain"

December 17, 201310:12 am

mamajoseph

Kenya

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Pulled a few carrots to go with tonight's roast chicken. Leeks aren't quite as big as I want yet, so I left them. And I'm waiting for the bell peppers to turn red before I pick them, if they will. It hasn't been very sunny lately, so will they? In fact, it's really cool here today...71 inside the kitchen. brrrrr....

I (sorta) have a farm in Africa.

March 5, 201410:41 am

proud mountaineer

WV

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I've started my milk jug greenhouses. This is my first try at this so wish me luck. I planted several perennials, a few tomatoes and peppers. I discovered that an inexpensive soldering iron is a timesaving dandy little tool for putting holes in jugs and even tougher plastics like my garden cart.

March 5, 20145:48 pm

Joelle

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proud mountaineer said
I've started my milk jug greenhouses. This is my first try at this so wish me luck. I planted several perennials, a few tomatoes and peppers. I discovered that an inexpensive soldering iron is a timesaving dandy little tool for putting holes in jugs and even tougher plastics like my garden cart.

Hello proud mountaineer,

The milk jug greenhouses sounds very interesting, would you please give us more details?

Thank you.

"Be kinder than necessary, everyone is fighting some sort of battle."

March 5, 20147:13 pm

proud mountaineer

WV

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I found the best directions and illustrations from Kevin Jacobs - 'A Garden for the House' blog.